Mineral and geochemical composition of human body ash residue of Norilsk residents as a possible indicator of elemental composition of the environment

• Main Authors: Leonid Petrovich Rikhvanov, Mariya Aleksandrovna Deriglazova, Nataliya Vladimirovna Baranovskaya
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Russian
• Published: Tomsk Polytechnic University 2017
• Subjects: ash residue; human; Norilsk; mineral composition; element composition; hydroxyapatite; Engineering geology. Rock mechanics. Soil mechanics. Underground construction; TA703-712; norilsk
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/5afb25ba0a8b43d6a61427ef942a20f6

The relevance of the current paper is caused by the need to obtain knowledge about the influence of natural and man-made factors on the human organism (elemental and mineral composition) in the process of urbanization. The main aim of the study is to reveal regional geochemical and mineralogical features of human body ash residue of Norilsk residents in comparison with cities which have been studied earlier, as well as to establish relations between the composition of the habitat and the human organism. The methods used in the study. Unclaimed material was sampling in the Norilsk crematorium with the official permission of administration; elemental composition was detected by instrumental neutron activation analysis and mass-spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma; mineral composition was studied by x-ray analysis and scanning electron microscopy; statistical data processing was implemented by methods of correlation and cluster analysis; diagramming and comparative analysis were realized via programs such as Statistica and Excel. The results. Geochemical and mineralogical features of the studied material were revealed. It was found, that human body ash residue of Norilsk residents concentrates such elements as Mg, Al, P, Ca, Sc, Ni, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Cd, Cs, Ce, U and rare earth elements in greater quantities in comparison with previously studied cities. Specific mineral phases of Cu, Pt, Ni, Zn, Au, Zr, rare-earth and radioactive elements were discovered and it shows the copper-nickel specific of Norilsk in the mineral composition of human organism. Based on the results of the elemental and mineral composition, cluster and correlation analysis, the hypothesis about possible source of radioactive, rare-earth elements, Hf and Zr in the human body ash residue of Norilsk residents was offer.